New Jersey: Gun control package advancing in Trenton despite outcry from gun owners

Proposed anti-gun laws that have been debated and discussed for weeks in Trenton continue to move closer to approval in the state legislature. Many of these onerous legislative proposals, previously reported here by the NRA-ILA, have already passed in the Assembly and are now tentatively scheduled for floor action in the Senate on Monday, May 13.

The state legislature has reached a critical point in its process, and New Jersey gun owners must continue to pressure state lawmakers to defeat these dangerous gun bills.

This proposed legislation constitutes the most extreme gun control package that New Jersey has considered in several decades – largely because the state already has the country’s second “strongest” – most restrictive – gun laws according to the Brady Campaign! However, anti-gun lawmakers are desperate to push their gun ban agenda despite this. NRA members need to remind New Jersey politicians that gun control laws in their state are already excessive – as are glaring problems with these current laws.

One of the most dangerous of the bills under consideration is Senate Bill 2178/Assembly Bill 3659, sponsored by state Senators Raymond Lesniak (D-20) and Barbara Buono (D-18). This bill includes, among many other things, a flat-out statewide gun ban on .50 caliber firearms. Other bills in this far-reaching gun control package would touch every gun owner in the state. One of these is Senate Bill 2723, the drastic remake of the Firearms Identification Card (FID), sponsored by state Senate president Stephen Sweeney (D-3) and Senators Donald Norcross (D-5) and Loretta Weinberg (D-37). Although this bill does contain theoretical improvements over current law, its provision requiring mandatory training to simply “possess” a firearm is an unconstitutional infringement on your Second Amendment rights.

The NRA and our state association, the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC), have repeatedly met with state lawmakers over the last two months and have requested that they focus on fixing problems with current law, rather than add more gun control laws. The NRA has specifically requested that the thirty-day limit set by state law to approve Firearms Identification Cards and handgun purchase permits be enforced since it is currently ignored. We have also asked that pistol purchase permits be made valid for one year, and that New Jersey’s Draconian firearm transportation laws be addressed to avoid another Brian Aitken situation.

Rather than harass and target lawful and responsible gun owners, lawmakers need to focus on real problems like mental health reporting and prosecuting actual criminals.

It is critical that you contact Senator Sweeney (D-3) and your state Senator TODAY. Please respectfully ask them to address the glaring problems with New Jersey’s CURRENT gun laws and support the thirty-day enforcement and handgun permit extension instead of exploiting tragedy to add new laws that will do nothing to address violent crime or public safety.